Pefect
by Victoria Breckon
Summary: The search for a perfect Christmas pine leads to a new Christmas discovery.


"Again!"

The car was suddenly filled with a dramatic intake of breath, quickly followed by the belting of one of Kurt's personal favorite Christmas carols.

_Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree!_

_Thy leaves are so unchanging;_

_Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree!_

_Thy leaves are so unchanging;_

_(_"You grab soprano, I'll do bass!" Blaine yelled before the chorus.)

_Not only green when summer's here_

_But also when 'tis cold and drear_

_Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas tree!_

_Thy leaves are so unchanging!_

AJ listened to his dads sing, a toothy second-grader grin filling his face; it was the perfect amount of peanut butter spread onto a sandwich, right to the corners so that it was sticky and yummy and contagious.

It was a Christmas tradition of the Hummel-Andersons, or at least the Andersons, as Blaine had mentioned in the first few years of their marriage, to drive to Westerville to the Anderson family farm and pick out a Christmas tree. "This can't just be _any_ tree." Blaine had told an unsuspecting Kurt and a baby AJ on their first time to the farm. "It has to be the perfect one. It has to be the one that sits in our front window and welcomes frigid passerby's into our warmly furnished home. It has to _sing_ whenever we walk into the door. It has to welco—"

"Blaine, Blaine, I understand. It has to be perfect. How hard can it be, really?"

Kurt was in for the adventure of a lifetime. And if the first time didn't kill him, how hard could their tenth Christmas tree-hunting extravaganza be?

"So, August James, are you looking forward to picking out the best Christmas tree _ever_?" Blaine asked, his eyes meeting his son's in the rear view mirror.

"Totally!" AJ squealed, leaning forward in his seat so that his chin was against Kurt's forearm. "It's gonna be totally awesome!"

"That's the spirit!" Kurt chimed in with a nod. His eyes twinkled against the soft layers of snow. He squeezed Blaine's mittened hand tenderly and began crooning yet another Christmas song. Soon, the entire car was vibrating with carols galore.

About two hours later, the car pulled up to the secluded lot that was nestled nicely with many variations of pine trees. AJ tumbled out of the car while Blaine courteously opened Kurt's; the family walked up to the gate and, with a near sense of pride, unlocked it and stared into the rows upon rows of Christmas trees. "It's beautiful." Blaine breathed, awe in his chocolate brown eyes.

Kurt easily hid a laugh, rubbing his hand against his husband's shoulder while grabbing AJ's, and led the two through the rows of pines.

"How about this one?" AJ called after nearly a minute of looking.

"Too tall, buddy!" Blaine chuckled. "The only way we could fit that in our house is if we put it up the chimney."

"Yeah, and then you know what would happen!" Kurt warned, tussling AJ's curls. "Santa wouldn't be able to come down the chimney. Christmas would be cancelled and one sad little boy wouldn't receive any presents."

"On to the next one!" AJ cried, marching quickly through the aisles, clearly on a mission to find the perfect tree that would accommodate both their needs _and_ Santa's needs. This, after all, was of top priority.

Onward the Hummel-Anderson family marched, weaving their time spent at the farm not only with serious looking and consideration to what made the perfect tree, but with jokes, songs, and aimless chat. Finally, Blaine found the best tree. Even AJ agreed, and it was settled—they had found what was truly the perfect pine. It stood 5'4" and was the deepest shade of evergreen they had ever seen. Its branches were perfectly aligned with its stature and each other; it was balanced and had lost hardly any of its needles. Its trunk was sturdy and dignified.

"This is it, AJ!" Blaine whispered with pure excitement. "Are you ready to help me chop it down?"

"Yeah!" AJ exclaimed. Blaine was back from their car in ten minutes with an axe, where he began the process of explanation to the art of chopping to AJ. Kurt hung back, enjoying the father-son bonding time that AJ was experiencing with Blaine, and how important it was for both of them. He knew how excited Blaine could (and most likely would) get about their seasonal decorations; it was always fun to watch his eyes spark at the mention of the holidays, or his cheeks raise at the memories they brought up, or even the way his stomach seemed to growl louder around holiday meals. These attributes were being passed on to AJ, and Kurt couldn't have asked for anything better during the holiday season.

With the tree loaded on the top of the car, the Hummel-Anderson family was soon on their way home, sipping hot chocolate with an accumulative mood of tired appreciation for both their trek and each other.

AJ's chatter of school broke the sleepy haze, and soon they were home, unloading the Christmas tree into their house in the suburbs of The City. Christmas carols were sung, popcorn was strung, and ornaments (even the Hot Wheels MegaRacer and Transformers ones, thanks to a certain kid) were hung, making the perfect pine even more perfect, if possible.

Blaine stood back, marveling at their beautiful handiwork. He grabbed his two favorite boys and brought them close to him, kissing each on the cheek and enveloping them into a heartwarming squeeze. "Merry Christmas." He whispered proudly, admiring all of his glory.

It wasn't just the tree that he was proud of. It was the hard work it took to raise a functional family, the way he fell asleep at night with the assurance that he had a husband and kid who both loved him and were proud of him, and that he couldn't have asked for anything better for Christmas.

It was the perfect Christmas for many reasons.


End file.
